MALE sweat stains on an item of Amanda “Milly” Dowler’s clothing could hold the key to her murder, police said yesterday.

Surrey detectives, who have had the DNA for some time, said that it was found on a corset-style bodice Milly bought in September 2001 for a Hallowe’en party. The garment was found in her bedroom and may have been bought from a store called New Look in Kingston, Surrey. She is thought never to have worn it.

Detectives have said that the DNA matched that found on a mug after a burglary at a church 300 miles away in Sunderland. Surrey Police said that 55 men connected with the church had given swabs and no match had been found.

Police believe that the DNA match could be a coincidence. One theory is that the garment was originally sold in Sunderland, taken back to the shop and redistributed to the South of England. The other possibility is that Milly knew the man.

The person who left the DNA must have handled or worn the top at some point, a police spokeswoman said. “We are not saying that person whose DNA is on the top is the suspect, but equally they could have information that is useful to us. We have released this information in the hope it might prompt someone to come forward.”

Milly disappeared outside a railway station in Walton-on-Thames on March 21 last year. Her remains were found six months later in Yateley Heath Woods, on the Hampshire- Surrey border. Her funeral took place in Walton-on-Thames last Friday, a year after she vanished.

• A reconstruction of the last known movements of the murdered teenager Hannah Foster was carried out last night for broadcast on the BBC’s Crimewatch on Wednesday.

  Detectives say that they have some interesting lines of inquiry after speaking to about 2,500 people in Southampton and Southsea in Portsmouth over the weekend.

  Miss Foster, 17, disappeared on March 14 while walking home from a bus stop. Her body was found later in an isolated spot near by.

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